Let's go to the Mall right before Christmas, said Nobody
by RainbowDitoo
Summary: Vanitas would rather die than be caught inside a store like Build-a-Bear, but that cat plush... He has to have it. ((Do i self project on Vanitas a lot? Yes. Do I care? No.))


Vanitas stared through the windows that showed the inside of the Build-a-Bear at a large, black and red cat. It was dressed up in a leather jacket, with small studs on its arms. It was quite possibly the stupidest thing he had ever seen.

He had to have it.

The only issue was that this was a rather large mall, and there were hundreds of people making their was around. It also didn't help that this was the weekend before Christmas, and grandparents were all taking their grandkids to the exact Build-a-Bear that Vanitas had found himself drawn to. Getting that cat, as well as getting it matching leather clothes without being seen would be like fucking mission impossible. It would be like trying to find a piece of hay in a needlestack without being stabbed, it would be like shoving your arm into a meat grinder to grab a hamburger, it would be-

Ok, that was enough with the stupid metaphors. Vanitas scowled at his reflection in the window. Another shape slowly got closer to the window before it was standing next to him.

Queen Minnie had brought him here for Christmas shopping, and she had sent him off to do his own thing. The fact that she was here now was a coincidence. Unless, of course, it wasn't. She might've been following him the entire time to make sure he didn't get into any fights again. Again was the key word.

She looked up at him, and then at the stuffed cat that he was looking at. A warm smile found its way onto her face.

"Are you planning on getting that?" She asked, gesturing to the cat with a nod of her head, "It's cute."

Vanitas snorted, then jammed his hands into his pockets. He could lie, if he wanted to. Say that he was just amused by it.

"I like it." He said, finally just deciding to tell her what he was thinking, "Looks soft."

"I thought you liked it, but are you planning on getting it is what I asked."

He scrunched his face up in Minnie's general direction. The fact that she could be sarcastic and biting towards him was annoying. If anybody else tried, they would be punched, but Minnie knew that he wouldn't do anything to her, and used it to her advantage.

"Sure," He grunted, face un-scrunching, "But I'm not going in there. Too many other people would see me."

He then gestured to the windows, "Besides, everyone out here can see inside too. That's like social suicide."

Minnie rolled her eyes.

"I'll never understand why you make such a big deal out of it," She told him, "You go in there, and these people that you're so worried about will see you, then never see you again. Tell me the last time you've seen someone at a store doing something questionable, and actually remembered exactly what they looked like."

Vanitas opened, then closed his mouth with a huff. She was right and he knew it. The only thing that was really bothering him about it was his own anxiety and insecurity when it came to stuff like this. But these random people didn't know about his 'tough guy' thing. Nor did they care if they did. They just wanted to get their Christmas shopping done more than anything else.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets, and then pulled his wallet out. A quick look through it, and then a sigh. He was really going to do this, wasn't he.

Walking into the store wasn't as terrible as he thought it was going to be. Grabbing the plushie skin was a little creepy but nobody showed up and laughed at him. Waiting in line to fill it up wasn't terrible, and the little kids didn't stare at him like he thought they would. Filling up the cat wasn't bad, the lady was nice. She smiled real, like she was happy that someone else was happy. It kind of reminded him of Minnie.

The only thing that was left was to add a heart and then get it that leather outfit that he so desperately needed. He grabbed a heart, and offered it to the lady holding his cat. She shook her head.

"No," She said, "You gotta do the ceremony."

Alright, that was weird. He frowned at her and slowly withdrew his hand.

"Ceremony?"

The lady nodded, and reached out to close his hand around the small foam heart.

"First, rub your hands together. Get it warm."

"This seems a little stupid."

"Just do it."

He blinked at her, surprised, but didn't argue. With a roll of his eyes, he rubbed the heart between his two fingers.

"Alright, now jump up and down to get it pumping!"

Vanitas stared at her, then shot a look around the store. Nobody was watching. Might as well jump if it moved things along quicker. He gave a small hop, and the lady looked overjoyed.

"Last thing you gotta do is give it a kiss! Make it loved!"

Another roll of the eyes, but Vanitas held the heart up to his lips, then pulled it away. Now the lady held out his newly stuffed cat, the hole in its back gaping open. He got the hint.

With one smooth motion, he shoved the small foam heart directly into the cat, and then watched as the lady sewed it up. She smiled at him when she was done.

"Now all you have to do is make a birth certificate if you want, and get some clothes! I'm sure your new friend would be overjoyed to have a new outfit."

Vanitas only grumbled a response, nonsense words that didn't really mean anything, and then quickly made his way to the section of the store where the leather clothes were located. The checkout was quick, and soon he was back standing next to the Queen, Build-a-Bear bag in hand.

"You happy now?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"Good!" She turned away from the store, and patted down a couple wrinkles in the dress she was wearing, "I was thinking it's about time to go anyway. Are you alright with that?"

Vanitas looked in his bag, and blinked at the black and red cat within it. The clothes he had bought were off to the side, still on the adorable miniature hangers that they had come on.

"Yeah, I'm fine with leaving," He said after a moment, "We got everything we needed to get done done."

"Of course." she replied, starting to head towards where people were piling into the mall, "Let's go then."


End file.
